Friday, September 24, 2010

Previews for Non Fiction ~ Thumbing Through Thoreau; Corn Flakes with John Lennon: The Twisted Path Home; and The Acid Christ

A note on previews: They include information on books received for review with publisher’s blurb, a bit about the author, and purchasing links. All collected here for your convenience. Coming reviews will contain personal thoughts and opinions about each.

This preview contains the following Non Fiction books:

Thumbing Through Thoreau:A Book of Quotations ~ by Kenny Luck and Henry David Thoreau

Corn Flakes with John Lennon:and Other Tales from a Rock ‘N’ Roll Life ~ by Robert Hilburn

The Twisted Path Home ~ by Fae Bidgoli

Acid Christ:Ken Kesey, LSD, and the Last Great Gurus of American Dissent ~ by Mark Christensen

Thumbing Through Thoreau:A Book of Quotations ~ by Kenny Luck and Henry David Thoreau

Blurb: On July 4, 1845, when Henry David Thoreau moved into his cabin on the shores of Walden Pond, he was probably unaware that his abode in the woods, and the impact and influence of that endeavor, would forever echo through time. Thoreau was an uncompromising idealist; an ardent maverick who criticized his fellow man. He urged that men and women ought to live more simply, and more deliberately. "The mass of men," he famously wrote, "lead lives of quiet desperation." Yet the scope of Thoreau's message is much wider than social criticism. He speaks of spiritual transcendence in Nature and the unbounded potential of the individual. Thoreau is a dreamer and he speaks to dreamers. In a word, shun dogmatism and demagoguery; see beyond the immediate conventional religious explanations to reap a higher understanding. In our commodified contemporary American society, with the rise of religious intolerance and fundamentalism, materialism and mass consumerism, Thoreau's message is needed now more than ever.

About the Authors: Kenny Luck has thumbed through Thoreau's voluminous journals, correspondences and other publications to make this the most comprehensive collection of Thoreau aphorisms available.

Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau) was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, philosopher, and abolitionist who is best known for Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state. (info taken from wikipedia)

Corn Flakes with John Lennon:and Other Tales from a Rock ‘N’ Roll Life ~ by Robert Hilburn

Blurb: Robert Hilburn’s storied career as a rock critic has allowed him a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of some of the most iconic figures of our time. He was the only music critic to visit Folsom Prison with Johnny Cash. He met John Lennon during his lost weekend period in Los Angeles and they became friends. Bob Dylan granted him his only interviews during his "born-again" period and the occasion of his 50th birthday. Michael Jackson invited Hilburn to watch cartoons with him in his bedroom. When Springsteen took to playing only old hits, Hilburn scolded him for turning his legendary concerts into oldies revues, and Springsteen changed his set list.

In this totally unique account of the symbiotic relationship between critic and musical artist, Hilburn reflects on the ways in which he has changed and been changed by the subjects he’s covered; Bono weighs in with an introduction about how Hilburn’s criticism influenced and altered his own development as a musician.

Corn Flakes with John Lennon is more than about one man’s adventures in rock and roll: It’s the gripping and untold story of how popular music reshapes the way we think about the world and helps to define the modern American character.

About: It is 1991. Arezoo, an Iranian woman is living in Berkeley, California with her second husband, Robert, and working as a university professor. Recurring, terrifying dreams of eminent death lead her into therapy with a widely respected psychotherapist. As her memories unfold during therapy sessions, she flashes back to painful memories of her first marriage to Afshin, an Iranian man.

Arezoo's life takes an unexpected turn under hypnosis and she begins to channel the dramatic life story of Sogand, a woman who lived in a village in Persia (now Iran) in the late 1800's. This seemingly inexplicable experience, and her sudden, intimate knowledge of Sogand's identity leads Arezoo back to Iran after many years in America. Through this woman's history Arezoo makes some life changing discoveries - key to both her past and her ex-husband's tortured, secret life.

About the Author: Fae Bidgoli, author of The Cracked Pomegranate, once again displays her intimate understanding of the power of redemption. In The Twisted Path Home, Fae shows how by releasing judgment and fear, and releasing generational, cultural, and self-abuse, we find our purpose in life and become joy.

Inspired by her experiences growing up in a small Iranian village where child marriage was a common practice, Bidgoli is dedicated to spreading awareness of human rights issues such as child brides, stonings and honor killings in Middle Eastern countries. The pain and suffering she witnessed during her childhood in Iran compels her to write stories to bring hope to battered and repressed women around the world. Visit Fae Bidgoli’s web page for more information.

Acid Christ:Ken Kesey, LSD, and the Last Great Gurus of American Dissent ~ by Mark Christensen

Blurb: From the literary wonder boy to the countercultural guru whose cross-country bus trip inspired The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, this candid biography chronicles the life and times of cultural icon Ken Kesey from the 1960s through the 1980s. Presenting an incisive analysis of the author who described himself as "too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a hippie," this account conducts a mesmerizing journey from the perspective of Mark Christensen, an eventual member of the Kesey "flock."

Featuring interviews with those within his inner circle, this exploration reveals the bestselling author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in his many forms, placing him within the framework of his time, his generation, and the zeitgeist of the psychedelic era.

7 comments:

I had to laugh at the text on the photo, neverending book collection. I've been feeling like that for a long time, but finally getting things under control. I've moved my office inside and room is limited.